From the Editor

Life is a Pie?

Lake home and cabin owners are a fortunate group. We have our own lakeshore, our own little piece of heavenly pie. Like any homemade pie, however, owning lakeshore requires key ingredients and a lot of work. Nor is it inexpensive. The value of lakeshore property in Minnesota increases by ten to twenty percent per year. With our lakeshore property values increasing at that rate, many of us have invested in remodeling, land and lakescaping, boats and other lake toys, decks, grills, spas and just about anything else that allows us to enjoy our piece of lakeshore pie.

Big (and getting bigger) houses, larger boats, new trees added, or taken out. Our lakeshore is being transformed right in front of our eyes. Some of us like change. For many, though, change can make us concerned, frustrated, and occasionally angry. If you’ve been on the lake this spring, you’ve certainly noticed changes and I bet you have mixed feelings about them.

Sometimes it can seem like life is a pie and that there is only so much to go around. Trying to get a good piece spurs us to work overtime. We see others with seemingly better pieces and we set off on trying to make sure we get our fair share, which raises the question: how much is enough? If you’ve always got your eye on someone else’s pie, you will probably never satisfy your growing desire. Our desires, wants, and race for the pie can get in the way of life. Life isn’t about “our share” of the pie. John Lennon said it best, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

Life is not a pie. We needn’t race to get our piece and the fact that someone else has a piece doesn’t mean we won’t get one. True, the cafeteria line may run out of your favorite dessert, the number of boats on the bay may preclude you from tubing for the moment, the lack of slips open at your favorite restaurant may leave you turning for home, but when it comes to the things that really matter, there is no end. There is always another beautiful sunset to watch, another day to go tubing, another restaurant to try, and another moment to be shared with loved ones. If we are lucky, there just may be more dessert to be found.

Love does not run out, forgiveness doesn’t expire, hope springs eternal, laughter and smiles are always on tap, hugs and praise are always welcome, and gratitude can be enough. Knowing all of this usually helps me to feel more patient, to worry less, to be willing to stand at the back of the line, and to give when I think I can’t anymore. Because  life is not a pie, rather life is what happens to us and what we make of it. The truly wonderful gifts in life are numberless; there is no rush or stress to them.

I don’t know what life has brought you, however I know that I am extremely fortunate. I am healthy, my family is healthy, and we are content and feel peaceful. I have noticed though, that it is when I face difficult times I begin to think of life as a pie once more. It seems that in those times of stress, when I grasp for a piece of what I think I need, it often just slips away. I have lost my father and a very dear friend to cancer and I have watched countless others struggle with difficult times due to illness or death in the family. These friends, when faced with losing so much, often find out what really matters to them and focus on reaching out for those things. Rather than more of life’s pie, they hope for the continuous giving and receiving of goodness, love, kindness, and friendship. Inevitably, they begin to exude solace because they have been blessed with the wisdom that life is not a pie and they needn’t grab for it.

That is not to say that life is without difficulties and extremely painful circumstances. Many of my friends and family members are struggling with difficult relationships, some with illness, some with career challenges, some with feeling alone, some with a spiritual hole that they can’t seem to fill, and other struggles. I cherish each of these special people in my life and pray for them often, and I hope. I hope for all of my friends to find that peace that came to my friend Laurel and my father when they started to reach out for, and get, what really mattered.

During the pat few years a very close friend of mine, Teresa, has been fighting brain cancer. She is an amazing person always ready with a smile, a laugh, an antic, and an ear for listening like my problems are as important as hers. She has always grasped the idea that life is not a pie. I can’t fix her problems; I can’t even be a balm to them. Instead of fretting about how to fix things, we spend time together. If we don’t, life will happen anyway, so we savor what we have, the best parts of life: love, laughter, sharing, forgiveness, serving, hoping, growing, and being still.

Summer in Minnesota seems the perfect time to enjoy the abundant good that life has to offer. As lake home owners, we all have so much to be thankful for. Focusing on what we are grateful for will leave us feeling loved, treasuring the things that are endless will leave us feeling rich and perhaps realizing that life is not a pie will leave us feeling peaceful, hopeful and content. In the words of William Fry, “Hope is hearing the melody of the future; faith is dancing to it in the present.”

I hope that in your journey you reach out and get all that you want in life. Life truly is big enough and enriching enough for us all to get our fill, and so much more.

By Nancy Henke